Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Flipping Landscape Orientation when Printing.

Flipping Landscape Orientation when Printing

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 24, 2026)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Al asked if there was a way to change the rotation on an Excel worksheet printed in landscape mode. He wants to "flip" the printing by 180 degrees from the way it normally prints, so that it prints correctly for three-hole-punched paper in his printer.

There is nothing intrinsic in Excel that allows you to specify the rotation on printed pages. Also, there is no way to do this from within a macro. Some printers may allow you to control rotation within the printer driver itself, but it is pretty certain that most will not.

The solution may be as simple as rotating the paper in your printer's paper tray by 180 degrees. This may not be possible in some printers, however, and it may mess up printing for some of your other applications.

A third-party solution may be the best way to do what you want. For instance, you may want to check out products such as ClickBook, from Blue Squirrel Software.

http://www.bluesquirrel.com/products/clickbook/

This mention should not be taken as an endorsement of the software; we have not tested it in any way. The product description indicates it will work with Excel and it will rotate pages. (And, it appears, do a heck of a lot of other things.) Undoubtedly there are other competing products available through a search of the Internet.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2220) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Flipping Landscape Orientation when Printing.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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